Asian Journal
Of Traditional Medicines

Abstract: Banxia Xiexin Decoction (BXXXD), a traditional herbal formula, has been used to treat ulcerative colitis (UC) clinically. In this study, chemical compounds and putative targets of BXXXD and UC related therapeutic targets were screened from multiple databases. The protein-protein interaction (PPI) was conducted using String database, and 31 candidate targets were screened from CytoNCA database. The Database for Annotation, Visualization and Integrated Discovery (DAVID) and Metascape database were used for Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes (KEGG) channel and Gene Ontology (GO) enrichment analysis respectively, and the enrichment analysis results were visualized by OmicShare platform. Meanwhile, the interaction network among Chinese herbs, active compounds, candidate targets and pathways was built by Cytoscape 3.7.2 software, and
the potential compounds of BXXXD in the treatment of UC were screened. Finally, molecular docking technology was used to verify the putative key compounds. Combined with literature research, 5 key compounds for the treatment of UC were identified, which are mainly involved in TNF signaling pathway, cancer signaling pathway, inflammatory bowel disease (IBD), Toll-like receptor signaling pathway, and NF-κB signaling pathway. This study provides a scientific basis for BXXXD as an effective alternative therapeutic agent for UC from a new perspective, and also provides a feasible method for basic chemical research and pharmacological research of BXXXD.

Key words: Banxia Xiexin Decoction, traditional Chinese medicine, ulcerative colitis, network pharmacology, molecular docking, key compounds